I don’t know about you but I am one of those people who are wary of forking out cash for the first book in a multi-volume epic. It may be great, it may be awful but you can bet that I’ll be purchasing the rest of the series just to see how it ends… Some absolute rubbish has had to be cleared off my bookshelves because I was too lazy to go to the library and take out book one!
Hands up if you’ve held off trying out Steven Erikson’s ‘Malazan’ series for precisely this reason. Okay…
Well first of all; let me tell you that you’re missing out on a treat as far as I’m concerned, ‘The Malazan Book of the Fallen’ is one of the top epic/ military fantasy series on the market right now. If you like epic or military fantasy then the odds are that you’ll like what Erikson is doing right now. Still not convinced? How do you fancy trying out the first few books and seeing what you think?
Thanks to those lovely people at Transworld, two lucky people (who have never read the ‘Malazan’ books) are going to get the chance to decide whether they think Steven Erikson is up to scratch or not. Each person will win a ‘taster pack’ containing ‘Gardens of the Moon’, ‘Deadhouse Gates’, ‘Memories of Ice’ and ‘House of Chains’. There’s some quality reading to be had there but don’t take my word for it, see if you can pick up a pack for yourself!
Entering is as easy as ever, just send me an email (address at the top right hand of the screen) telling me who you are and what your mailing address is. This competition is open to anyone, it doesn’t matter where you live!
I’ll let this one run until Thursday 12th of June and announce the two winners on the Friday.
Good Luck!
Fancy hedging your bets a little? Robert over at Fantasy Book Critic is running a competition to win all eight books in the series.
If you’re just waiting for the latest instalment, Pat is giving away five signed copies of ‘Toll the Hounds’ and also has a competition where you can win some Todd Lockwood art (the US cover for ‘Toll the Hounds’)
6 comments:
I've tried a few times to read this series. I *want* to like it. I need something to chew on while I wait for GRRM's "A Dance with Dragons".
Erikson's writing style is like a finger in the eye to me though. I read the entire first book and half of the second before I gave up, admitting to myself I still had no real clue what in the world he is talking about.
So many people like this series I feel like I'm missing something but every time I've tried to get back into it, I just can't force it down.
Thanks for the linkage Graeme! I just linked yours :)
Michael, the first book can be confusing, but things do make sense as the series progresses, and the writing improves noticeably from volume to volume. But if you can't get into the series after the first two or three novels, then it's probably not for you...
Nice idea! :) I'm liking your contests, at the moment. There are a lot of cool books! :D
~Chris
The Book Swede
Robert - Cheers for the link, always appreciated :o)
Michael - 'Gardens of the Moon' can be a confusing read but things start to make more sense the further you get in. If it's not appealing to you however then you're probably not missing out if you don't continue, there's far too much stuff out there to keep going with a series that you're not enjoying ;o)
Chris - There are so many cool books out there, I want to read them all but I don't think I'll ever have all the time!
Ah, this is just what I needed. :-) I've been burned by series before, so I was hesitant to jump into this one (despite all the good reviews).
I've also gone the other way, where I've only bought the first book, liked it, then had to scramble to find the other books in the series!
Can't win, I tells ya! :-)
I just finished the first book in the series and I have yet to make up mind yet. The potential for a great story is there but due to the way Erikson writes i feel like I am missing it. I think it has to do with the way he bounces from character to character so quickly, that I do not have a chance to get into what Im reading. Give me more substance and more descriptions so that I can be fully immersed in the world. Im going to give the second book a chance and hopefully it will be better.
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